LAWYERS in Cebu asked the Supreme Court (SC) to change the “mandatory character” of its free legal aid initiative and instead make the program voluntary.
The Cebu City and Province chapters of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) believe the compulsory 60 hours of free legal aid service annually would “violate freedom from involuntary servitude.”
“It would be worthwhile to reiterate the concerns of the different law organizations, law schools, law alumni associations and individual law practitioners in Cebu during the consultative forum conducted on 21 April 2009, who were unanimous in
vehemently opposing the mandatory character of the rule,” the IBP Cebu City and Province said in their joint resolution.
The lawyers’ groups aired their opposition to the program, following the pronouncement of SC Justice Renato Corona recently that he will implement the Rule on Mandatory Legal Aid Service for Practicing Lawyers, which requires all practicing lawyers to render a minimum number of hours every year of free legal aid to indigents.
The IBP Cebu City and Province chapters and the Young Lawyers’ Association of Cebu (YLAC) will demonstrate their protest by signing a manifesto in front of the Palace of Justice in Cebu City on June 25.
Lawyer Ian Anthony Sapayan, YLAC president, said yesterday the Mandatory Legal Aid Service of the SC is not only a duplication of the functions of public attorneys but is also “opposed to the very essence of legal aid, which is an advocacy and, therefore, should be voluntarily given, not forced.”
The program would have taken effect in June 2009 but the SC deferred its implementation following several letters it received from IBP chapters nationwide opposing the program.
The lawyers’ groups said the mandatory requirement will not serve the purpose of giving more access to justice but will instead spawn litigation and clog up court dockets.
“In Cebu alone, the trial court will be receiving approximately 1,600 new cases per year so Cebu lawyers would be able to meet the mandatory requirement. Consequently, with a growing number of litigation, there will be undue delay in the disposition of cases. As the familiar adage goes: Justice delayed is justice denied,” the resolution said.
Ambulance-chasing
The leagues said clerks of courts and IBP legal aid chairpersons cannot possibly cope with the administrative responsibilities, such as monitoring and issuing of certificates of compliance.
“Other legal aid services done outside of court are not recognized, such as jail decongestion, actual interviews with clients and other related case preparation activities, legal aid clinics and consultation, information dissemination, seminars and educational projects,” the resolution read.
The lawyers’ groups said the penalty of a non-issuance of certificate of “good standing” and suspension from practice will “encourage solicitation” and “ambulance chasing” and thus, the expunction of the pleadings will “ultimately unduly penalize” the litigants and not the defiant lawyers.
“There is a need to lobby in Congress for automatic appropriation of funds for the IBP National Committee on Legal Aid so that it can deliver the funds to the chapters for legal aid projects,” it also said. (GMD)